Lasse-Marc Riek

Audiowork by Thelmo Cristovam and Lasse-Marc Riek (June 15 - July 15, 2021)

Our project aimed to explore and artistically convey the auditory experiences of the coronavirus pandemic in different life, cultural and time zones. Instead of a direct personal exchange on site, our focus was on capturing acoustic impressions and their creative interpretation.

In the first phase, we exchanged our personal situations and the local conditions and began to make sound recordings from our backyards. These recordings were accompanied by short descriptions and photos that clarified the context.

In the second phase, we used our respective acoustic approaches to create small improvisations and compositional interventions based on the basic audiovisual material. Cristovam responded with saxophone, trumpet, cornet and flute to the acoustic environment of Riek, who in turn reworked Cristovam's recordings with electronics and found sounds.

This collaboration led to the creation of four larger compositions and pieces. Unfortunately, Riek fell seriously ill with COVID-19 towards the end of the second phase and recovered only slowly. Cristovam suffered from mental health problems in the following months and was unable to continue the project.


As our situations stabilized, we worked on a radiophonic version of our project entitled "BACKYARD UNLOCKED", which was accepted by the WDR3 Studio for Acoustic Art for a broadcast in spring 2024.


Another piece called "CONVERSATION OF BELLS" was completed and broadcast on various radio platforms in South America and Europe.


We have more projects and formats in the pipeline and hope that circumstances will allow us to travel in person to the countries in question to continue our work more intensively. In conclusion, we are grateful for the opportunity to work on our ideas and will continue to work together on new developments and sound research. We would like to thank the Goethe-Institut for their patience and support.

Residency: 15.06.-15.07.2021, A virtual partner residency between Thelmo Cristovam from Pernambuco, Brazil and myself. Granted by the The Goethe-Institut, Germany